


Space Rift

by kiwi_pies



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Drama, Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-07-11 22:43:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7073497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwi_pies/pseuds/kiwi_pies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>League of Legends AU that is, 'way out there'! Taking place in a universe where the champions you know and love have instead become "Stars" in the space outside of the world of Runeterra, protecting their home world from a unseen and unknown threat they are able to fend off when they first arrived. Now residing in space, the "Stars" must use their powers to create stars and guard the sun and moon. Things seem all fine and dandy as the Stars use their powers to keep nights bright for the people of Runeterra, until one fateful day, when the stars they create quickly begin to fade and vanish.  To make matters worse, many Stars themselves crash back onto Runeterra and are unable to get back into space. Will our heroes be able to return home and light up the sky once more? Or will the Sun, Moon, and stars vanish forever, and all the world be shrouded in eternal darkness, doomed to be swallowed by the great black hole.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Story of the Stars

It was approaching evening. The sun began to set on the horizon. The pink and orange colors it shown bleeding across the sky. The sky grew darker and darker as the sun faded. Fortunately, it was lit up soon, with stars dotting the sky and a sliver of the crescent moon glowing up above. A young girl and her younger brother sat outside their home, watching the sky transition from day to night. Their mother stepped outside, letting out a sigh of relief as she was concerned the children had run off into the dark of the night, as they usually where known to do. 

“Sweetheart, what are you doing out here?” She asked her daughter calmly, kneeling over to the child. 

“Watching the sun set, looking for stars.”

The mother smiled, sitting next to her children. “Ah yes…the stars are beautiful aren’t they?” She hummed. 

“Yes mum.” The daughter replied, holding her quiet brothers hand. 

“Do you know why our night skies are so bright?” The mother asked. 

“Mum I have heard this story a million times! ...Tell it to me again.”

The mother laughed softly, gazing up at a rather large twinkling star in the sky. “Well, it is quite a tale my shooting star…but it is a tale of great importance.”  
Her children looked up at her with wide eyes and anticipation as the mother began the tale. 

“Long ago, our world was riddled with famine, sickness, war, and a hovering threat of gloom and doom that hung over all our heads. Why was our world like this? No one knew. Many brave souls searched relentlessly for the source of the cause of our despair, but for a long time no one knew. Until one day, a strange object fell from the sky above in the dark of the night. It was an odd rock. It was common, that small meteors would come crashing from the stars and onto the surface of our world. The odd rock was sent to scholars and mages, for it was reported to contain a strong magic that caused anyone near it to become uneasy and afraid. It was discovered to be part of the cause as to why our world was in such turmoil. The threat was among the stars.” 

The young girl squeezed her brother’s hand. “That’s so scary…a threat that was out beyond our world…what did they do about it?”

“Yes, many people were terrified. They had little control of what was out there, and whatever it was, it was growing stronger. The nights became dark, stars seeming to vanish and burn out. Even the moon began to dim. At first it wasn’t too bad, we could create light here with fire and magic…however…things became far worse.”

“How?” 

“The sun, the suns strength began to falter.” She explained. 

The daughter gasped. “Oh no…”

“Sadly yes, and this was not good. If we lost the sun, we lost daylight. We lost what would give us vision, give us light. Without sun we would have no crops grow, we would be condemned by darkness, for even our night would be pitch black, the stars vanishing and moon fading.”

“We have the sun and moon now though, and the sky is filled with stars! So they must have saved the sun and moon, right?” 

“Your right! And how that happened is the main point of our story. The threat among the stars wasn’t going to come done here, they must have known we were ready to combat them. The spirit worked its dark magic among the stars, where they thought we could not reach them. We needed to send some of the best of our warriors and heroes into the space beyond our world to fight it. These beings were the best of the best, known to us as “champions”. Many were sent into the cosmos to fight this beast beyond the stars.”

“How did they live up there in space?” The daughter interjected. 

“Well, they had to sacrifice a lot going up there…” her mother explained. “They would need to give up their lives here to start lives out there, taking on forms of deities of the stars. They would be immortal, strong, seen as heroes, with a sacrifice of having to stay among the stars, guarding us from above. They had to fend off the darkness and light up the sky with their stars once again.”

“That’s crazy!” 

“Indeed.”

“But…haven’t some fallen back down to earth sometimes? Like the shooting stars…”

“Rumors have spread that some do…but they have a duty up there, they must return.”

“Right, right…but what happened to the sun and the moon? They are back!” 

“Yes…while many champions became stars…two became the sun and the moon. Leona and Diana are their names.”

“Their story is sad though…” The daughter pointed out.

The mother sighed. “Some say it is. They, unlike the stars, are bound to the sun and moon. They cannot leave, or the moon and sun may cease to be.”

“Is it true that they all have literally become the sun, moon, and stars? That they no longer look like their old selves?”

“No dear, they still have their original shapes. Now however, their eyes twinkle like stars, they wear cloaks and garments glittering with stars, they have stars sparkling in their strands of hair, make up made of dark blues and purples, speckled with stars.”

“They sound beautiful…I would love to see one someday…”

The mother smiled. “Maybe you will, keep your eyes peeled. You could catch a glimpse of one crossing the sky, or as you said, one may land here on earth. But only for a brief while.” She picked up her daughter and sleeping son in her arms.

“I hope I’ll see one on earth someday…” the young girl muttered, burying her face into her mother’s shoulder. 

The mother smiled, walking back inside her home. As she turned and walked inside the house, a bright star whizzed past. The tired young daughter caught a glimpse of the shooting star, too tired to make a peep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first work I'll be posting here! I've always been a lover of writing, but I've never been courageous enough to share my work like this. But something with this idea was just begging to be written and shared!
> 
> To start off this tale I've had in my head, I figured a nice intro with backstory on the idea I had would be a good start. No worries though, I already have 2 other chapters I will be posting today that dive a bit more into the League champions in the story (which you can expect to be a constant growing list..I have a lot of favorite champions)
> 
> As this is my first fanfic I will ever be posting, I would love feedback! Keep in mind though, that this is very much an AU, and while I'm using a lot of names and characters, their jobs and tasks have been somewhat drastically changed, at least in terms of being "Stars" which you will learn about as you read. I try to keep their personalities, appearance, weapons, temperament, etc to be as close to the characters as possible.


	2. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars

Above the earth, high past the clouds, and into the sky that was always night, lived the “Stars” previously known as champions, the Stars were the strongest beings in the universe. They guarded the world, creating new starlight to give people still on earth. Alongside the stars were the Sun Leona; and the Moon; Diana. Their duty was to keep the sun and moon stable with their presence, not being able to travel far from their assigned posts. 

They weren’t too alone, sometimes other Stars would come to visit, dropping off trails of stars and coming to chat. 

Leona sighed, the suns vibrant light warming her neck. She was only inches away from its surface, but was barely affected by it. Any normal human would have disintegrated in this light and heat. She gazed off beyond the earth, knowing the Moon was on its opposite side, shining her light in the dark night on the world below. 

She turned her attention to some stars whizzing past. Some were slowly floating about, gracefully creating stars in neat patterns, likely with the hope some would be recognized back on earth as constellations and creations of those specific Stars. Others streaked across the sky, leaving behind trails of hundreds of bright stars, some could claim as their signatures. She smiled. She was quite happy when Stars came near here, it was always entertain. Some even came to her, curious of how well she was doing or what it was like being the sun. She was the probably most vibrant Star in the sky. While many others had dark blue and purple attire with accents of gold, littered with twinkling stars, Leona shone mostly bright, like the sun. The only splash of darkness on her was a strand of dark blue hair, sprinkled with stars. Her counterpart Diana, was unique herself. Her body shone silver like the moon, her hair and eyes dark purple, and glittering with starlight. 

She thought of Diana. How had the moon been doing? She hadn’t been able to be in contact with the woman since they were bound to their eternal post. She sighed. She had just begun to come to terms with Diana during the great war of the Stars, where enemies had banded together to fight against the galaxy sized enemy which dimmed the stars and stole the sun and moon. Which not many knew, was that when the stars had been shipped into space, they gave up a lot. They gave up the chance to ever walk among mortals again, some could never leave or put the world back in danger. 

Sure they were promised immortality and high regard as heroes. They were given banquets and rewards for their acts, and powers beyond what they originally had. However this wasn’t always fun and games. While they fended off the great threat and brought light back to the sky, they still needed to stay there. Many were unaware that the starlight they created wasn’t like the old stars. Their starlight was temporarily, and needed to be replenished every day, a reason that not many could stay on earth, even if they would trail off course and fall to earth. It was not too difficult to shoot yourself back to the stars, a Star had the power to fly at extreme speeds, throwing themselves back up into space.   
Leona thought about her decision a lot as she guarded the sun. She no longer had a perception of day and night, it was always day and always night. She had a home among the stars near the sun, which she stayed in and ate at, and rested. Stars may have been immortal, but still liked to sleep and eat, it was something many of them refused to give up. Though what they ate was different and when they slept it was always brief. The Stars had become something else beyond humans, they were no longer just yordles. They were no longer what they once were, no matter what they had been on earth.

Leona was thinking in silence for a few more moments until a far too familiar Star flew right into her line of sight. She initially was just aimlessly gazing into space, but her eyes focused on the Star who had approached her. 

“Hello Draven.” Leona said, still gazing off into the star filled distance. 

“Heyo, Leo. How’s the sun feeling?” Draven inquired. 

“Fine, quite present as always.” She moved her shield from the front of her body to the side, being more relaxed that this area had some Stars now. Being alone was always an uneasy time, she felt open for attack by black holes that may have returned. But her worries always subsided when time passed and none had come, and Stars continued to happily wander about the sky, leaving light in their path. 

“Your doin’ a rad job of protectin’ the thing.” Draven complimented, his starlight robes floating behind him.

“As you are doing exceptionally well creating starlight.” Leo said back, her voice bold.

“Why thank you~” Draven purred. He had done his best to make his stars stand out the most. Many people could tell which were his, he tended to have a signature of sorts. 

Showing off bright stars in extravagant patterns, some have even claimed to see stars spell out the word “Draven” in the starriest of nights. They were right, as the Star was well known for being quite full of himself. He was one of the Stars that did this not just simply because it was right and would save their world, but he wanted the fame, fortune, and yes food, that came with it. 

Leona simply nodded, watching other Stars fly and prance across space, leaving behind trails of star dust in their path. Draven seemed irritated with her divided attention, but felt some sympathy. He understood that Leona wanted to do this, protect the sun. She was the one who offered, as well as the only Star that could. She gave a lot up for what she believed in, as every star here. Her situation however was a bit more extreme. She could never stray far from the sun, she couldn’t follow other stars to their ‘base’ a grand place where they could relax and eat, socialize, and take a break from their duties while other Stars took their place for a while. Leona could do this, but she couldn’t leave the sun and follow the others. She did it alone.

Draven continued to hang by Leona. Knowing the guardian of the sun was always down for attention, Draven was willing to give it, as long as he got it back.

“Don’t you have some stars to create?” Leona asked with a smirk as she knew Draven was one to tend to slack off.

“Pssh, yeah, yeah.” The man spun his ‘weapon’, an oddly shaped ax as dark as the night sky, splattered with vibrant stars. One in his and the other on his back. When he threw this weapon across the sky, it ripped open the darkness, freeing stars into the night sky. “Just watch how easy this is.” 

He tossed one out, the axe ripping through the darkness, and bounced back into Draven’s hand. He grinned, pretty impressed with the arrangement of stars that were now in the once dark patch of space. 

“Impressive, glorious Star maker.” She replied. 

“Why don’t you make some stars?” He asked, giving her a toothy grin. 

“Can’t right now. You know what I am bound by.”

“Yeah whatever, it’s not the job of the sun or moon to make stars unless they absolutely need to.” Draven looked disappointed. “Guess I’ll have to get back to work then!” He said as he stretched his arms and yawned. 

Leona smiled and held out her sword. A small glimmering light appeared at is end. As she lowered the sword, the light stayed. She had made a single small star to humor Draven. 

“Heh, thanks for your help Sun.” He chuckled, turning to make his way back to the others. Leona sighed as he left, gazing back into the direction of the moon, who was covered by the planet which the Stars protected.   
_________  
On the opposite side of the globe sat the Moon. She had her legs crossed and floated in place in space. Not as many visited the Moon as they did the sun. While the Sun was bright and warm like the thing she guarded, the moon was silver and cold, with a darker sense of humor. However some did enjoy her company, speaking with her momentarily before rushing back to their own duties. She knew her task, and would not stray from her post. 

She watched several Stars fly near her location, some very close bye, she could make out who they were, others weren’t as identifiable, but she could eventually tell who they were as she realized their patterns and methods of star making. 

One who was particularly near was Tristana, a yordle shaped Star whom rocketed across the sky on her canon, shooting out stars in her path. She rocketed past, landing near the Moon herself for a brief moment. 

Tristana was one of the Stars everyone knew of, out of the fact she was cheerful, peppy, and kind. Overall she was great to be around, and a lot of people liked her. Even Diana smiled when Tristana stopped by. The yordle wiped her brow, shaking off the sweat from a hard day and nights work (which happened to be made of stars).

“Good day and evening Diana, how are you doing?” 

“Fine,” The Moon said coolly, gazing off into the distance. 

“Lots of Stars out this day and night, huh?” Tristana tried to strike conversation with the stoic moon. 

Diana nodded slightly. “The people down on Runeterra will sleep easy tonight.” She stated

“That’s a relief, isn’t it! Knowing those down there can sleep easy because of what we do up here!” Tristana was silent for a bit, her massive ears twitching. “….Do you ever regret it? Your decision that is…”

Diana was silent. “Yes and no.” She finally replied. “I can never leave or stray far from this spot, but it’s nice to be left alone like I usually am. And I guess it feels “good” to know that I’m seen as a big hero and protector of the moon, and I do love her…” She turned to face the planet. “It’s a living. Immortality, all you can eat, endless power…It has its pros and cons, but in the end if we all wanted to survive, it had to be done.”

Tristana nodded in agreement. She knew for a fact some Stars initially wanted no involvement, but when “your own life” comes into the equation many were quick to change their minds. “Well, I should get back to work…the sky needs a bit more stars for my tastes…wouldn’t you agree?” 

“It is always in need of more light.” 

“Right…”

Tristana lingered for a moment more, but Diana gave out the vibe she wanted to be let be. Her silver eyes gazing past the stars, past the world of Runeterra, and even past the Sun. She seemed to almost be gazing off far beyond even this universe. Spacing out, one may say.

The Starry yordle sighed as she let Diana be. She rocketed off, leaving another trail of stars glimmering behind her, humming as she jumped along.  
The Sun. The Moon. The hundreds of Stars. Their existence in the skies is what kept the world turning, what kept the night skies lit, and what kept days bright and warm. Without   
them, who knows what could have happened.

Soon however, everyone would find out just how important their presence and efforts were….and what would happen if many of the Stars went…missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! Digging a bit deeper into the lore of "Stars" as well as the sun and the moon themselves! And gotta love the juicy foreshadowing to close out the chapter hehehe...
> 
> Though I must note one of my choices for this universe and what it means. You will often see it said from characters that they say "Good morning and Goodnight" or "Good evening and Good day" etc. etc. The reason that they do this is that they have no longer had a perception of night and day. It is night and day simultaneously for them, while it can only be night or day back on earth.


	3. The Comet

“Another good day for Draaaaaaaaaven.” Draven waltzed into the base in which many Stars would come to relax and break away from their duties. Tristana was also ending her run and landed beside him. 

“Good job. How many new constellations of your face can we expect to see out there?”

Draven narrowed his eyes. “Shut up rat,” he hissed. I bet I made more stars today than you did.

Tristana glared back and showed her teeth. “Oh yeah! Wanna bet dinner on it?” 

“Your, on short stack,” he sneered. The pair went to a giant starlight board, where they could check up on how many stars one had created in one day. 

Draven gasped. “No way, no way!!!” 

“Haha! Looks like I get your dinner, no take backs!” Tristana laughed. 

“I only talked to Leona for like…ten minutes.”

“And Diana only let me talk to her for three.” Tristana said. “Just goes to show how different those two are.” 

“No kidding,” Draven grumbled as he walked away from the board. Smiling, Tristana followed him.

Moping, Draven nearly knocked into his brother Darius. “Yo bro, sorry.” He huffed.

Darius was very tall, armored and menacing. He had a starlight axe he wielded that ripped stars out of the darkness. Trailing behind him was a long starlight cape, which looked   
as if it was always flowing and blowing in a breeze. It even tapered off, seeming to become transparent as it retched its tattered end. 

“Hello Darius,” he spoke, his voice deep and rough. “I’m assuming you are done for tonight and today?”

“For now anyways,” Draven said as he gazed at the ground. It was nice to be able to stand on one after floating among the stars all day. The bases littered about the cosmos were   
the only solid ground the Stars stepped on, outside of a few planets. 

Darius nodded. “Nice work out there. I’m going to go make my rounds.” He grunted. “Just be careful Draven, don’t get into any trouble.”

“You’re still worried about that?” Draven snorted. “Draven knows what he’s doing, I can take care of myself!!” He huffed. 

“I’m just worried you overdo it out there.” Darius admitted.

“Relax bro! We are Stars, but we can’t burn out! We are basically immortal at this point…”

Darius sighed and shook his head. “Just be careful, for me,” he demanded as he made his way to the starry space outside. 

“Just be careful for me mehmehmeh,” Draven mimicked his older brother. 

“He’s just looking out for you Draven! You don’t have to be so rude.” 

“Yes I do, I’m Draven I do what I want!!!” He said as he held his head high, knocking into someone else. This time, the person didn’t make a sound or speak a word.

“S-sona….er…sorry.” Draven yelped. 

“Smooth.” Tristana said with a smirk and eyes narrowed. 

Sona only waved him off and smiled warmly, her long flowing dress glittered. She had to be the only Star that still floated when inside the base, as she did that back on the land of   
Runeterra. 

Tristana placed her hands on her hips and stood on her tippy toes. “Hey Sona, you just going out?” She asked.

Sona replied with a rapid nod, her long and star filled pigtails bouncing. 

“Cool! Be on the lookout for uh….the new Draven constellation I heard it’s a big hit.” Tristana said with a smirk. 

“Shut your mouth…” Draven sneered at the yordle. He turned to Sona grinning. “SO I made some pretty neat arrangements of stars today, you should check them out.” 

Tristana rolled her eyes and Draven crossed his arms with a grin. Sona silently laughed in response.

Tristana groaned, the tiny yordle pushing at the back of Draven’s legs to get him to move. “Alright love bird, Sona needs to get to work and you owe me your dinner for that bet   
you lost.” 

Draven was too enamored by Sona’s presence to really hear what Tristana said, but walked forward a smile on his face. Sona ruffled his starry hair and kissed his forehead, making   
his grin wider. 

Tristana gagged, continuing to shove him away as Sona made her way into the star filled space.

“You’re ridiculous.” Tristana spat, as the duo made their way to the mess hall.

“You’re just jealous, Trist.” 

“I am NOT jealous.” Trist hissed, her ears flicked and her star shaped earrings jingled. 

“You’ll find someone who likes you enough someday.” Draven sneered. 

Tristana grunting was her only response. At least she was somewhat satisfied as she chowed down on Draven’s food, at least he stuck to his bets.

“Who’s laughing now huh?” Trist said with a snicker.

“Psh…It’s not like we NEED food to live anymore, it’s a luxury if anything.”

Tristana grinned. “You’re right, we don’t have to eat this stuff,” she said as she danged a slice of meat drenched in a dark purple sauce in front of Draven’s face.

He drooled a bit, shaking his head. “You’re terrible.” He growled, crossing his arms. 

“You were the one who agreed on this bet, cocky Star.” She said with a smile.

Draven shrugged. “Whatever.” 

The pair were mid conversation until they were interrupted by someone barreling into the mess hall. Many Stars gasped and flinched as the Shooting Star slid across the main table. Thankfully it was mostly empty, as no banquet was occurring at the time.

“Urgh…Sorry everyone…sorry…”

It was Taliyah, a much newer Star. 

It was common that when some Stars fell to earth, they would return with another new Star with them. This was often the case if a Star was stuck on earth for a while. To make up for their absence, they brought some extra helping hands. Yasuo was the one to bring Taliyah to the stars, as he was gone quite a long time when he crash landed on the earth during an accident on one of his star making shifts. He was knocked out cold, and found by Taliyah, who helped him out. He in return became her teacher, and eventually, she wanted to take to the skies when he could return back.

So here she was. A bit young, clumsy, but optimistic and had a huge heart. “Again, super sorry…” 

A few Star’s only nodded and went back to their food, and Taliyah sighed, her spirits sort of shattered. Maybe she should take a break for now, get some food and relax. She awkwardly got her food and sat down, far away from everyone. 

Tristana’s ears dropped. “I feel bad for her, she’s so new…”

“I know, isn’t she an embarrassment?” Draven huffed.

“Do you always have to be this rude?” Tristana asked. 

“Yes.”

Tristana tossed a spoonful of mashed potatoes at Draven, who sat still for a bit, before taking his finger to scoop it off his shirt and stuck it in his mouth. The girl yordle rolled her eyes and slid off her chair. “I’m going to talk to her.” 

Taliyah sighed as she stired her mashed potatoes with her fork. The utensil was a starlight silver and gold, the end of it shaped like a star. Stars were important designs in everything here. It was found in attire, designs and architecture in the bases, in the clothes everyone wore. She smiled at the small detail. She liked a lot of what was here for the most part. 

She was still new though, and had a lot to learn. She had a few mess-ups and had already fallen back to Runeterra once, but quickly returned back to her new home.  
She sighed, lifting a spoonful of mashed potatoes to her lips as she felt a gentle tug ad her long, star filled sleeves. 

“Sorry to bug you, but you seemed a bit alone and I thought you would like some company.” It was Tristana, being as friendly and chipper as ever.

“I would love that!” Taliyah answered, scooting over to let the yordle sit by her.

“I love your outfit! And are these earrings mini comets?” Tristana asked. 

“Hehe, yeah! Back down on Runeterra, I was known as a Stone Weaver…here I am a comet Weaver.” 

“No way, you’re a comet! A Shooting Star! Not many Stars up here can call themselves those…”

“It’s a title I’m honored to hold…I hope I can live up to the name…” 

“I’m sure you can…er…”

“Taliyah.”

“Tristana, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” 

“What about Draaaven.” The glorious star maker interjected. 

“Draven you didn’t even want to come over here.” Tristana replied, ignoring him. “Don’t pay Draven any mind, he’s a bit of an annoyance in my opinion.”

Draven pouted. “I was getting lonely over there.” 

“So basically you were starved of attention as well as food.”

Draven wasn’t impressed. Taliyah was confused. 

“Draven here lost a bet. Guy thought he had made more stars than me. I got his meal for that loss.”

Taliyah laughed. “Ahh I see, poor guy.”

“S’not like we have to pay for the food or anything, I can go get food now if I really want to.” He said with his hands on his hips.

“Then go.” Trist suggested.

Draven sat down. “Then I’d be alone again.”

Tristana groaned. 

Taliyah blinked. “You can have some of mine,” she offered. 

Draven’s eyes widened. “Thanks.” He replied as he grabbed a roll of her tray and stuffed it into his mouth. 

“At least he said thanks,” Tristana mumbled. 

“I think he’s quite humorous,” Taliyah commented with a grin.

“Don’t feed his ego more than you feed his face!” Tristana warned. 

Taliyah laughed. “You are all so cool! I don’t know what I was worried about…”

Tristana sighed and gave Taliyah a warm smile. “Hey, we all got each other’s backs up here. We have to work together to reach a common goal. If we don’t do that well…the whole world and us are all screwed.” She said. “Some of us were rivals and enemies, now many of us are partners and friends. We’ve risen above what we once were and become   
guardians and protectors of our old home. And we’ve made the stars our new one.”

Taliyah’s star littered eyes glittered, as she listened to Tristana. This world above her old world really amazed her. She missed home yes, but she had a new task now. Protect her world so that her friends and family could live their lives in peace and in happiness. 

Though for how much longer, no one could say. No one could assure that all things would be well and good as time crept on. No one could be assured that the threat that the Star’s fended off wouldn’t return, and no one could be truly sure the Stars would last forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love my foreshadowing don't I? But yes, we get to meet more characters! (And discover Kiwi is Drasona TRASH. Shipping isn't going to be a major part of this story, but it may squeeze itself in at times, just a heads up.)
> 
> Also concerned big bro is concerned...maybe for a good reason. 
> 
> Three chapters is quite a bit too squeeze out, but don't fret! I'll try to post as often as I can, and I can't wait to share my work with the world, and continue to work on this story!


	4. The Black Hole

Time passed and the trio chatted a bit more, before duty called for the three of them once again. They went back to their work, rocketing and flying across the sky, leaving stars as they went along. This was the normal routine of a Star. 

For those on earth, a few days passed. To the Stars, they didn’t really keep any mind of how much time had passed or days and nights had gone by. It wasn’t their concern. Their only concern was their duties.

Tristana sighed and huffed as she landed on the edge of the base entrance. It wasn’t often a Star felt exhaustion after a day and night of work, but Tristana shook it off. She had done a bit of extra work today, and it was possible a Star could get faintly tired, hungry, or fatigued if they worked long and hard enough. 

She dragged herself across the base, ears drooped and beads of sweat trickling down her face. A familiar figure raced over to her, another yordle. 

“Tristana, are you okay?” Her concerned voice asked. 

Tristana lifted her head slowly to see a yordle about her size with long ears, wearing star glistening armor. 

“Hey there pop star, I’m good…I’m good…” She replied, not wanting to worry her friend. 

“You’re sweating, Stars often don’t sweat unless somethings up…” Poppy’s voice was shaky. She was mildly concerned for her yordle pal, and things had been a bit off lately. More and more Stars had been feeling exhausted after hours and hours of work, some had even reported having becoming injured. Ezreal, a younger Star that always had a habit of exploring and wandering off, had fallen to earth and had not come back for a few days. Most Stars, himself included, returned to space as quickly as they could when they crash landed on earth. He returned, a bit disheveled, explaining he had tried his best to get back earlier, but it was oddly difficult for once. 

Rumors spread across the Stars of something amiss. Many people tried to dismiss it, stating their powers could handle anything that as long as they were doing good, no harm would come to them. But uneasiness continued to spread, as well as panic. 

Tristana shrugged it off. “This is probably just a phase. Maybe there is something floating around in the atmosphere.” She suggested, but Poppy wasn’t so convinced. 

“Something is amiss here, more and more Stars are believing something is wrong….” Poppy stated. 

Tristana forced out a cheerful laugh. “Popstar, you are getting way to paranoid. C’mon, let’s grab something to eat.”

Poppy sighed as she followed her chipper yordle friend. Trist had always seemed to keep a positive light on everything. Poppy admired that about her. The pair continued to make their way to the mess hall, which unlike usual, was busy and swarming. Stars rushed across the floor, clumped in nervous and chatty groups, picking at their food, and overall looking stressed and nervous. 

Poppy nearly tripped over her feet, steadying herself.

“You alright little one?” A voice asked.

“Y-yeah….” Poppy replied, rubbing her forehead and blinking. “Thanks uh…G-garen!” 

Standing above the pair was one of the strongest Stars in the galaxy, Garen Crownguard. He was chatting in a group with his friend Jarvan, his old rival Darius, and Katarina Du Couteau, another well-known Star. She and Garen were often seen together, spinning across the skies creating their stars. There were also…other claims of a blossoming romance but the two never publicly admitted to any prying. 

“No problem Poppy,” Garen said as he knelt over, ruffling her starry hair with his gloves nearly as golden as the Sun herself. 

“What are you guys talking about?” Tristana asked the group.

Darius narrowed his gaze. “What do you think, what everyone’s been going on about.” He sneered. 

“Well, what most people are talking about Darius,” Garen said, patting his shoulder. The angry looking Star blew air out of his nose and rolled his eyes. “Not everyone seems to be as concerned as we are…”

“Don’t remind me.” Darius huffed. 

Tristana pushed her way into the conversation. “Darius, where IS Draven?” She asked, 100 percent sure that the armored star was referring to his younger and carefree brother.   
Darius let out a rough sigh. “He’s out there, making an extra effort to make his stars recognizable today. I told him to relax with the fact a lot of Stars are ‘burning out’ we could say.”

Katarina nodded. “I haven’t felt this tired since we first started out duties here.” She admitted in an exhausted sounding tone. “You have to wonder if something is in the atmosphere that…shouldn’t be.”

Garen nodded. “Everyone has been concerned, and a bit more on edge. But we must not falter! We must stick to our duties…”  
Darius nearly laughed. “I admire your nobleness Garen, but you know better than everyone else here that the threat that used to plague our world when we still lived on Runeterra wasn’t defeated. It’s still….out there….” A shiver ran up his spine, but he kept his angry facial expressions in character, as he didn’t want to look as uneasy as some other Stars had been. 

Garen crossed his arms. “Which is why we must stay strong! We have to continue our jobs as the lights in the sky, so that the people of Runeterra can see, and our protected if the black hole ever dares to creep back into our atmosphere.”   
His pal Jarvan nodded. “Garen is right! We must stay strong.” He put Garen in a playful headlock and messed with the former commander’s star ridden hair, the tiny glittering lights dropping to the ground. 

Darius rolled his eyes, and Katarina gave a smirk, shoving him gently in the arm. “You are being a bit uptight Dar,” she teased. “If you keep glaring like that, your eyebrows are going to fuse together and you’ll never be able to smile again!” She said, rubbing her finger between the man’s eyebrows.   
Darius swatted her hand away, crossing his arms, like a child that was just denied an extra cookie at dessert. Katarina rolled her eyes and sighed. “Well I agree with both of you. While our presence is what keeps the world of Runeterra safe, and stars in the evening sky, and Diana and Leo guard the sun and moon, there isn’t anything wrong with ever worrying our strength may not be enough to defeat the black hole for good.” The knife wielding star blew a strand of stray starlight hair from her scarred face. “It’s okay to worry a little bit Darius. Its instinct. It’s what would save us and the world if the black hole crept back. And it’s also okay to relax a bit. Getting to stressed will only make matters worse.”   
Jarvan nodded. “You boys better listen to her, you know what happens if you ignore Kat, aha!” The previous prince laughed loudly, and Katarina stamped down on his foot with her spiked boot. “OW….my toesies….”

“I think I need to go and make some stars. It’s been awhile since I was out there, and the sky has been looking a bit dim…” Katarina said with a sigh, walking away from the group. The assassin turned Star walked off into the galaxy outside. 

Poppy and Tristana gazed up at the trio of men left behind. “You three don’t know how to talk to women, do you?” Poppy innocently asked. 

The three stood silent for a while. “Of course we do!” Garen interjected. “I heard Kat's, super into me!” He said with a cheesy grin. Darius started him down. 

“I’m going out there with her.” The other ex-commander said in his usual gruff and angry voice. “She’s right, the skies are dim, and with all the other Stars anxious and tired, well those who are still in good condition need to get out there and do as much as we possibly can.” He swung his massive starry ax and marched out of the recreational base. 

The two friends and yordles were the only to remain. “Wow Garen, you tried.” Jarvan said. “Someday you’ll manage to impress her.” He teased. 

“Put a space rock in it,” Garen said as he punched his friend in the side. 

“Youch! Garen that actually kinda hurt!” He hissed, clutching his armored side. 

Garen laughed nervously, but the fact that his armored best friend had just cried out in pain twice, had brought some concern forward. He also took note to the exhausted Tristana. “You alright little one?” He asked as he knelt down.

“Yeah I’m okay Garen…” Tristana squeaked. “Probably just need a break or something.”

Poppy fidgeted. “Tristy, maybe you should go get something to eat and lie down…”

Trist nodded. “I was planning on it…” She huffed.

“I’ll be with you in a moment, I need to ask Garen something…”

“That’s fine…” Tristana said as she dragged herself off to the mess hall.

Garen shifted himself over to kneel near Poppy, Jarvan also leaning over. The three used to be affiliated with the same region when back on Runeterra, and while many of the Stars had begun to spread out and ignore their past affiliations, they tended to stay close with groups they knew well back at their old homes.

“Are you alright Popstar?” He asked. 

“I’m worried about Tristana…I’m worried about everyone. We haven’t been like this since well…since we were all new!” She squeaked out. 

“Fear not Popstar….we just need to stick together, and keep our spirits high! We will get through this, I’m sure of it…rest up, eat well, and everything will go back to what is was!” Garen said, enthusiasm in his voice. A true leader for sure, passionate, strong, and above all, caring. 

Poppy slightly nodded, hefting her massive hammer over her shoulder. “I’m going to check on Tristana.” She finally said, making her way to the mess hall. 

“Sounds like a plan.” Garen said, messing with Poppy’s pig tailed hair. “Jarvan and I will be heading out, wish us luck out there!”

“Light the skies gentlemen!” Poppy said, waving to the departing friends. She sighed as she turned to the mess hall. She scanned the Star filled area, until she found Tristana, talking to some other starlight yordles as well as some others as well. Taliyah, a new friend of Tristana, lingered nearby. Sona, a quiet but caring Star also hovered over in concern. Poppy picked up her speed, and nearly bumped into the starry yordle Lulu. 

“Whoa whoa whoa!!” Lulu squeaked. “You okay Poppy? You look like a ghost!” 

Poppy laughed nervously, wiping a bead of sweat off her brow. “I’m good…I’m good,” she gasped, sitting next to the fellow yordle Star. 

Tristana looked up, smiling at her friend. She seemed to be straining to sit upright, and Poppy’s heart raced. 

“Did you eat?” Poppy asked. 

“Yep! I have some grub in me…” Tristana replied, nibbling on a glazed bun. The food that the Stars ate was always rich and filling. And not to mention specially made and designed for their bodies. It was mostly considered a luxury to the Stars, but in a pinch was very important to their health. 

Rumble; another yordle in the group sighed, resting his head on the table. “Just take care of yourself Tristana, okay?” He yawned slightly. “We just need to push through this, don’t let it beat us down, because we are heroes!” 

Tristana nodded. “I’ll eat and rest…and I should be okay.” 

Taliyah scooted over to her tiny friend and rested a hand on Tristana’s shoulder. The pair exchanged smiles, and the group went to discussing more positive topics. It seemed to ease Poppy’s stress, and perk Tristana up a bit.  
_______  
Meanwhile, outside and among the stars, Draven was whipping his axes left and right. The glorious star creator himself even felt as if he was burning out, and ready to explode. But his pride to be the brightest Star in the universe kept him going, throwing his axes across the realm of space, the weapons ripping the darkness and releasing hundreds of stars in its wake. Eventually the two axes would spiral back to him like a boomerang, cutting even more stars from the darkness. 

Draven caught the axes lazily, panting heavily. “Draven can’t quit, he’s gotta prove he’s the best!” He cried, lifting his arms to throw them across the galaxy once more. However this time, he was stopped. Darius had grabbed his reckless brother’s shoulder. 

“Stop. It.” Darius hissed. 

“Why bro?” Draven responded, adjusting the tiara that stat on his head. 

“Because, you’re sweating, I can see you’re exhausted. That mean’s somethings up, you’re overworking yourself when somethings amiss.” Darius said, his voice bold, but even Draven could sense a hint of shakiness and concern in the stern man’s speech. 

Draven forced out a laugh. “Bro I get it you’re concerned. You always were and always will be. But were like…gods now! We don’t have to worry about anything.”

Darius sighed, rubbing between his eyebrows. “We aren’t…gods…We still rely on rest and food to get well, hell a lot of people still crave it. Sure our powers now are, beyond what we could do before but we still do work, hard work. Work that if done too much makes you sweat, and feel weak and pained, and makes your stomach growl.”

“You can hear it too?” Draven asked, covering his stomach. 

“Clearly.” 

Draven scoffed. “Well whatever, I’m still not worried. Nothing can really hurt us with the strength and might we have. Everyone who was every powerful, strong, either physically, mentally, or status wise, is up here. Nothing bad will happen, we can deal with any shit thrown our way.” He threw his axe at the darkness of space, ripping it open. Stars flowed out of the slash that it had made. 

Darius sighed. “Alright. I guess there is no convincing you otherwise. Either way, it’s a new shift, it’s about time you headed back in, Katarina and I can cover for you.” 

“Alright General Party Pooper.” Draven huffed, sticking his tongue out at his older brother. The super Star then marched off in defeat.

Once he was gone, Darius let out a sigh. Katarina soon blinked right onto a star near the ex-war general.

“He’s you’re brother. He’s going to annoy the crap out of you. Be lucky you have just one sibling.”

Darius gazed off into the starlight. “I still worry.”

“And so do I. I know I’m strong, probably the strongest of my family. It’s a duty of mine as well as to be a star maker and guardian of Runeterra, to protect my siblings as well. Even though they insist they can take care of themselves, Talon especially, I still feel the drive to make sure they are well.” 

Darius let out a gruff sigh. “I guess you are right Katarina. I can’t ever get rid of this weird protective thing I have going with Draven…Its just you’ve seen him, he’s a reckless idiot! I’m waiting for his ass to crash land back on Runeterra and for him to never return to the skies…”

Katarina laughed. “If even Ezreal can come back from his awful escapades down on earth, Draven will come back like it was a walk in the park.”

Darius tried to force out a laugh. “I guess that’s true. Maybe I am letting all this freak shit get to my head…I probably need a nap and a snack after this.”

“You and I both, buddy.” Katarina agreed, and the pair gazed at the star filled sky before making some of their own.  
_______  
Draven had dragged himself back to the base, feeling unusually tired and hungry. He told himself this was probably because he had done so much star making today. The Draven had practically lost track of time! He could have been out there for days and nights and not even noticed. He was just so bent on attention he had lost himself in his work. 

Draven grunted as he trudged across the base. The mess hall had seemed to have quieted down. It was almost oddly quiet. Everyone else had either gone to work in the skies or tired stars had gone to the rarely used sleeping quarters. 

Another part of the eerie silence may have been the only person still there was well…a mute. 

“Aye babe!” Draven said with a somewhat relieved sigh.

Sona had her head down, her long star filled pony tails falling around her. She jerked awake as she heard Draven’s voice, smiling sleepily and waving. 

“Were ya waiting for me babe?” He said, clicking his tongue. 

Sona simply nodded, resting her head on the table once more. 

“Yer tired too? Damn, what’s going on…?” He muttered, sitting down next to her. 

Sona shrugged, grabbing Draven’s hand as he sat down, gently rubbing his palm. Draven grinned, resting his own chin on the table. 

“Guess everyone else is like….sleepin’ or something? Or out I guess.” 

Sona nodded. She had stayed around, knowing Draven was still working, while the others she was hanging out with needed to rest, and those who didn’t feel too bad went back into the dark sky to light things up a bit. 

“Welp, whateves. Probably just us working too hard…it’s not like we can burn out like real stars can……….right?” Draven said. 

Sona’s eyes blinked wide open, and she glanced around frantically. She eventually let out a quiet sigh, and shook her head no, of course not. 

Draven gently squeezed her hand, grinning at the starlight maven. “Yeah, we should be okay.” He assured her. “If ya need to, you can sleep or somethin’, Draven can keep watch if anything is up.” 

Sona smiled, her eyes already squeezed shut. 

Draven gently patted her back and tried not to doze off himself. Though being as tired as he was, he eventually dozed off after a few minutes. 

When a Star happens to sleep, their dreams are…unique to their kind. They often dream of space, endless stars across the galaxy. At least they tended to start out that way. Some stars slept for some time, having dreams of their previous lives, feeling as if they had really transitioned from the stars back to their lives on Runeterra. 

Draven himself had been an executioner, taking down those marked as guilty of crimes against Noxus, the faction he was born in. His dream started out typical, his duties in the sky, creating stars. In a flash however, his ax which he had thrown at the pitch black sky, began to glow, until the image around his was that of the old arena he used to. The axe which was once in the night sky, was now in the neck of a grimy and scruffy prisoner. 

Draven found himself grinning. “Heh, no one gets away from Draaaaven.” He hissed through his pointed teeth. The corpse was silent, crimson sticky blood dripping from the wound in its neck and pooling on the ground. 

It felt so real. The scent of blood, the exhaustion in Draven’s body from flinging his ax and chasing down his victim, the gentle breeze in the air. He almost was convinced this was real, and the Star act had all been a long ongoing dream. 

But only for a brief second did Draven feel this way. Because the corpse laughed. 

“Oi, what the shit?” Draven hissed, backing away from the executed but snickering victim. How was it still alive? The head had almost been sliced clean off, the body lined with deep scars. 

“Silly Star, you think dancing around the cosmos and showing off is going to keep you around?” It hissed. 

The once cheering crowd around him had grown eerily silent, the only thing he could hear was ringing in his ears.

“Psh, if this is the black hole tryin to scare Draven, it needs to try harder.” Draven spat. 

The corpse laughed again, its voice echoing and warped. “You all think you are so strong, that you are like gods. You are the fools. There will be a day when every one of your pathetic souls burns out, and you all explode into black holes. Sure you might be lucky to be reborn, but even so, your deaths will be the end of the silly world you fools are trying to protect.

Draven grunted as he threw another axe into the androgynous corpse’s spine, “Shut up! You’re just afraid of us!” He hissed. “We will always be stronger than you!” 

The dark spirit laughed. “Or is it you, that is afraid?” The once red pool of blood began to grow a sickly purple, and the cuts in the twisted victims neck and back began to bleed a dark purple as well. Draven backed away from the body, only for the liquid to leak further into the arena, which was now instead of filled with fans and people, was littered with glittering stars in a night sky. 

Draven swallowed hard, this dream feeling very much like a reality, as the purple blood turned a dark black, which was enough to make his stomach turn. It was the color black no Star or the light they created wanted to see. It was a black as dim and dark as the Black Hole them self. 

The dark liquid stretched across the landscape, consuming every star in its path. Everything surrounding Draven became dark, as if he had his eyes sewn closed, or was locked in a dark closet, and even worse. Draven could still see his body, to his relief, until the liquid began to travel up his own legs. He almost cried out, but just as the darkness had begun to invade his body, he jolted awake. 

Draven gasped, his entire body shaking. For some reason, he felt a little better, even after having the intense dream just a few moments ago. Sona had also awoken, appearing to be a bit healthier. 

Draven smiled at her, not wanting to concern the musician with the dream he had. If word got out about such a specific dream, it would be labeled some sort of prophecy, he didn’t want something like that floating around and getting misinterpreted. He wanted to find it out himself. 

He glanced around, noticing everyone else had also gotten up. Things seemed lighter, Stars seemed happier, and less tense. For a brief moment. 

_______

Gnar, a primal yordle Star sat on the edge of a massive window in the space base, overlooking the galaxy beyond them. His starlit tail swished back and forth. He was fascinated by the stars, and while he couldn’t speak common language like the other Stars, expressed himself with various noises and gibberish as well as body language. 

The scruffy yordle pressed his face and paws on the massive window, the starlight reflecting in his own eyes. What a glorious sight it was. Millions of stars twinkling in the dark sky, their light guiding and beautiful. 

Until it seemed that at a rapid pace, the stars lights began to diminish.   
Gnar’s tail flicked rapidly and his ears twitched. He took a while to realize something was wrong. He could see the Stars that were outside trying to make light, had begun to rapidly pick up their pace. The prehistoric yordle jumped off the cushioned ledge and scampered over to the nearest group of Stars.

“Stharo!” The yordle squeaked. 

A boy from the group with dark skin and a white Mohawk blinked slowly. “What’s he goin on about?” He inquired.

Ezreal, another kid from the group shrugged. “Heck if I know!” The blonde haired Explorer stated  
Taliyah was also a part of the group of younger Stars. She gazed down at the frantic yordle, who was motioning towards the window.

“I think he wants us to look outside…” She assumed.

The yordle frantically nodded, his claws slipping on the ground as he sped back over to the window, pressing his face and paws against the glass. 

The trio followed him, initially confused, but quickly horrified by what they saw. 

Taliyah gasped. “The stars…they are all vanishing!” 

Ezreal yelped. “We need an adult!!” 

“There is no concept of kids or adults here anymore…” Ekko pointed out. 

“WE NEED AN OLDER STAR! Someone specifically pretty important!” 

Gnar leapt into Taliyah’s arms, curling his tail around her waist, as the three dashed over to the group of some of the most well-known Stars in the sky. Thankfully one of them was Draven, a Star that Taliyah had met before.

The man was chatting about a dream he had had, that had the story line of “I was a super rad executioner again and everyone loved me.” Sona was there, seeming to be deeply intrigued with the story. Other Stars seemed irritated but Draven was such a theatrical person one couldn’t look away. Draven however didn’t mention the second portion of his dream…not yet.

Taliyah tugged at Draven’s sleeve, the glorious star maker jerking backwards. Gnar’s tail brushed against Draven’s arm. 

“Yo kid! You interrupted Draven’s story.” 

“No offense Draven, I think you’re really cool and all, but I’m pretty sure your story can wait!” She exclaimed, pointing to the ever darkening sky. 

“Oh….shit.” Draven muttered, as the stars grew dimmer and dimmer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHEW I finally got this one out! I was planning on having something else occur in this chapter that is a major plot point, but felt it deserved more build up, and another chapter before the plot points reveal. Also some more characters are revealed as well! This story is super fun to write. I can't promise a consistent upload schedule since this is a "upload as I go" kinda deal, but expect to at least see a chapter every few days or so.


	5. Crash Landing

“What in the Suns name?” Draven muttered again. Him and the other Stars present dashed over to the window to gaze out at what they say in stunned horror.

Gnar curled into a ball in Taliyah’s arms, his body trembling. “How is this happening?” The young Star asked, her lip quivering. 

Draven slammed his closed fist at the window. “I knew it…” He muttered. 

“Knew…what?” Taliyah asked, walking towards the furious ex-Noxian. 

Draven bit his lip. “Nothin’ for you to worry about, kid.” He grunted. “At least yet”

Taliyah squeezed Gnar tighter, the starry yordle burying his face into her chest. “What’s that supposed to even mean? What is happening out there?”

Suddenly, a Star crash landed in the entrance of the base, sliding halfway across the entrance, and behind the group gathering around the window. The Star panted heavily, lifting   
his head. “Something is rotten here.” He said, sounding nearly breathless. 

“Lucian! What’s going on out there?” The Starry yordle Poppy asked as she dashed over to him.

Lucian shook his head. “I don’t know. I can’t say. It’s just. Not right, something is wrong…I couldn’t make enough stars, they are all vanishing to fast, and my own don’t even stay.”

Draven jumped over to the group that had begun to huddle around the crashed Star. “Is what’s happening…what’s out there…is it a…” Draven swallowed. “Black…hole?” 

Lucian shook his head. “Nah, that’s not it. If it was, I’d be dead at this rate…we all would be…the stars are just…vanishing…”

“Is someone stealing them?” Lulu interjected, tapping her staff against her bottom lip. 

“That can’t be possible!” Ezreal answered. 

“It could be…” Tristana murmured. 

“What makes you say that?” Draven questioned. 

“Anything’s possible. We need to weigh our theories to find out what’s wrong so we can stop it!” She replied angrily. 

“Well DUH. Without starlight…what will the people do down there?” Draven exclaimed.

Tristana shook his head. “We have to get out there…bring back as much starlight as we can.”

“That would be a lost cause,” a rough voice said.

“Darius…”

Draven’s older brother threw his axe on the ground, the clumped group gasping and jumping slightly as it slammed on the ground loudly, rattling a bit before resting motionless on the slick floor. 

“We were just out there and stars began to…burn out.” He said breathlessly. “I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Nothing we could do would bring them back. Any stars we made burned out just like they did after a few moments.”

“What about the Sun and Moon?” Taliyah asked, her voice shaking. The group suddenly grew more panicked. If the sun and moon vanished, things would not be good. 

“Still burning strong and standing tall.” A calm voice spoke, Katarina flashed into view, out of a cloud of sparkly smoke. 

The group calmed a little. As long as those two didn’t falter. 

“I don’t understand though!” Ekko spoke up. “We were sent here, because we would be strong enough to replace the stars that vanished, our stars….us….we are stronger than the darkness, and the black hole!” 

“Maybe we are not as strong as we once were….” A new voice spoke.

“Master Swain…” Darius gasped. 

“Darius please, you don’t need to call me that anymore, I insist.” 

The group parted as the man with a cane made his way to the center group slowly. On his shoulder sat a massive Crow, with beady eyes make of stars themselves. The crow’s black feathers were filled with the galaxy, hundreds of star patterns stretched across her feathers. 

Swain himself was adorned with starlight robes and feathers, gold accents, and jewelry. He gripped his cane. He was one of the other Stars, more respected and seen as a leader of sorts to a select few. Darius especially.

Everyone looked up to the man for insight, for something. Swain closed his eyes. 

“Didn’t, many of us think, we would be given endless power and immortality when we came here? That our greatest enemy could never dig its talons deep into our skin and pierce our organs and bones? That we were gods? Nothing would hurt us, we would never need to eat or sleep again, we would always be happy?”

The group collectively nodded. 

“Strength we were given yes…but that came with a price. A task we could never stray from, or we would be held responsible for if something went…wrong.”

The group began to stir once more, whispering about being stripped of their powers and status for good if they were unable to save the starlight and lost the sun and moon. It was true some Stars may have not cared, but if they didn’t save the lights in the sky it wouldn’t help their lives back on earth, if they even lasted that long. 

“Calm down Stars, we must think rationally…”Swain demanded. 

The group gazed outside, watching the last off the stars vanish from the sky. 

“Oh who are we kidding? Let’s just morph and make more stars!” 

The man then morphed into a starlight bird demon, birds flying from under his cloak made entirely of stars, bursting into the sky and creating starlight that scattered across the sky. But as it happened before, the stars the tactician made faded and vanished minutes after they were made. 

Swain growled in his demon form, still not giving up. The other Stars nodded in sync, flying out into the skies, trying to make as many stars as they could. But it was in vain.

Draven was especially devoted to restoring starlight to the night sky. Mainly because he was upset “Constellation Draven” had been destroyed. 

Tristana was also hard at work making her stars, rocketing across the sky. She looked back, watching as the trail of stars behind her began to slightly fade. “Darn it!” She hissed, stopping in the middle of the dark sky. 

Draven whizzed past her, coming to a halt as well. “This is awful, what are we supposed to do? Everyone’s gotta be out here, and not all our power combined is bringing the stars back fast and long enough…”

Trist nodded. “Well we can’t give up!” 

Draven shrugged as the duo went back to star making. The Stars spent hours upon hours trying to return light to the sky, only for the glowing stars to be temporary.   
While the Stars started strong, they began to tire, not taking a break from their work, for if the lot of them did, the star would go entirely dark, minus the light from the sun and the moon. However, a new moon was approaching soon, and once it had, nights on Runeterra would be pitch black. They all started strong, streaking across the sky and creating stars by the millions. Everyone was out, not taking a break to rest or eat, or even socialize. This seemed to take a toll on many of them. A lot of Stars eventually gave up, dragging themselves back to base to rest. Others were persistent, staying out in the skies, making as many stars as they could. 

Draven and Tristana were two of the more persistent Stars, breathing heavily as they raced across the sky.

Darius approached his brother, the ex-general crossing his arms as he placed a firm hand on his shoulder. 

Draven yelped, initially a bit frightened. The Star maker had become more on edge, because of the odd occurrence of the fatigued Stars, the dream he had had, and now the vanishing starlight. 

“Draven calm down, it’s just me. No need to be jumpy.” Darius muttered. 

“Ah bro, it was just you.” Draven replied. 

“Yeah. Anyways, you’ve been out awhile, we all have been. You should probably head back to base before you burn yourself out.” Darius suggested. 

Draven broke away from Darius’ grasp. “Nah bro! I gotta stay out here…we can’t give up!” He huffed. 

Darius glared at his reckless brother. “Draven, listen to me. I don’t want anything to happen to you! I’d never forgive myself if you…if the black hole swallows you or something, and with the stars vanishing like this…that could mean…its coming back.”

Draven. “Well if that’s the case, we can’t give up!” He huffed as he dashed away, continuing to make stars, even against his brothers protests. 

Another Star approached Darius, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. They didn’t speak, and Darius turned his head to see Sona. 

“Oh thank the stars, he’ll listen to you.” Darius sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “Er well, whatever it is you do, do it…I don’t want my brother getting himself hurt.”

Sona nodded, floating over to the outgoing and determined Star, Draven throwing his axes at the dark sky. She gently tapped his back. Draven whipped around, an axe in hand, startling Sona a bit. 

“OH SHIT---BABE IM SORRY…I didn’t mean to scare you doll,” Draven reliped, scratching his cheek. 

Sona smiled, and grabbed Draven’s hand gently, squeezing it. Her eyes watered, the maven pleading with Draven for him to stop the best she could without using words.

Draven knew exactly what the silent Star was trying to convey. “I know babe…I know…I know you want me to stop but…”

Sona blinked slowly, moving close to him.  
“But I have to do this!” He cried, pushing her away.

Sona squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to cry as Draven whizzed off.

Darius, who was a few feet away approached Sona and placed a hand on her tiny shoulder. 

“I’m sorry he’s acting like this.”

Sona looked up, nodding her head and smiling, as to say she was alright. 

“At the least we should get inside, I can barely swing my axe anymore…” Darius huffed. 

Sona nodded, and the two left Draven and a few other determined Stars to continue to try in vain to bring back the light to the night. 

Tristana was still at it, rocketing across the empty cosmos. “C’mon! Just stay!” She hissed through gritted teeth. 

Draven approached the yordle from behind. “You’re not trying hard enough!” He barked. 

Tristana whipped around, her sharp teeth barred. “You’re one to talk!” 

“My stars stay at least a second longer than yours are!”

“You know what? Why can’t you stop being a self-obsessed jerk for once and actually help!” 

“I am helping, rodent.” Draven hissed. “I know what’s going to happen, and if we don’t get our acts together we will all die and the stars will burn out and Runeterra will be destroyed.”

“How do YOU know what’s going to happen!?” Tristana screamed. 

“BECAUSE I HAD A DREAM THAT----“

Before Draven could finish his sentence, a meteor slammed into the pair. Getting struck hard enough by a meteor was often the cause of Star’s dropping back to the world below like flies, Stars sometimes catching an unwanted ride on the fast moving space rock or in some cases and being knocked unconscious. Especially at a time of weakness like now, there was no way the two could respond to the rock slamming into them, and as everyone watched in horror, as the duo plummeted towards earth with the flaming rock. 

Darius gripped his axe, before throwing it at the sky, it cutting a gash of light that exploded into hundreds of Star’s before all of them faded. The weapon floated out into space, and Darius didn’t take an effort to retrieve it. 

“Darius…it’s going to be okay!” Katarina who was also nearby, tried to calm the furious Star.

Darius almost jumped at her, but luckily Garen and Jarvan were there to hold him back. 

“Darius, calm the hell down!” Garen growled, as he and Jarvan gripped at his arms. “Kat is just trying to make you feel better, no need to tear her throat out with your teeth!” 

Darius eventually stopped struggling as another tough Star, Tryndamere, approached to grab him around his waist. 

Katarina was breathing heavily, her battle knives in a defensive position. The Stars had never used their powers against their own kind…they didn’t know what kind of power they now had that could be used against each other…they didn’t want to know.

Poppy was on the ground, tears in her starlight eyes. “I’m sorry…I couldn’t protect her…” She sobbed.

Lulu and Rumble hugged the teary eyed yordle. “It’s okay…Tristana is…very devoted to her work! She just wanted to save Runeterra no matter the cost…besides, Stars can get   
back up here easy, right?” Lulu tried to reassure Poppy. 

“Yeah! She’ll be fine, even has Draven to keep her company, or eheh, he could be an encouragement to get back up here faster!” Rumbled added. 

Poppy shrugged, getting up and walking past Darius, who many Stars were trying to console. Sona was also distraught. Tayliah was trying to cheer here up, and Gnar was dancing and making funny faces to get her to laugh. But the young child and yordle couldn’t crack a smile from the blank faced musician. 

aliyah sighed, turning to the starry prehistoric yordle, whom was chasing his tail in circles, and occasionally looking up at Sona for confirmation that his antics were cheering her up. His ears and tail drooped as it seemed to all be in vain. 

Taliyah gazed at the sky outside. The sun and the moon still stood, but many stars had faded and vanished, those two being the only light left. How long till they started to fade? It was the legends and stories all over again, that people told back on earth about the heroes above.   
Now those on Runeterra became panicked once more, praying to the Stars above that they would be restored, saved, and so on. Many began to question those who sent them up there in the first place. They were not totally driven to ruin, as the moon and sun still shone. But for how long would people live in sanity, with the light slowly vanishing?   
And now two of the strongest Stars, had crash landed on earth, unconscious in their own starry blood, getting crushed slowly by the meteor that smacked into them.   
Unless someone found them, heroes or not, even the Stars strength faltered.   
Fortunately, someone was making their way to the pair’s location just in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY getting chapter 5 out! More intense drama and suspense coming right up! What are our heroes to do? All hope seems lost...for now. I wonder who is going to find Draven and Tristana? The answer may surprise you! Stay tuned for Chapter 6 my Stars~


	6. Same Old World?

Abigail was a fan of the story of the Stars. Her mother had told her brother and her the story when they were very young, multiple times. It was the most popular legend among the people of earth, and there were many interpretations of the stories, as well as plays, movies, and so on. She was about age 16 now, riding her bike along a forest path. Her mother had said to be home before nightfall, as the evening would be almost pitch black. Ah yes, the stories of the Stars…seemed less like stories and more a reality, hundreds of years after there initial trip to space. 

The girl had known for sure the tall tales were true! Even though many kids at school called her a loser and a baby for fantasizing such things, but now, many were very unsure for the future of their world. 

Abigail sighed as she continued to bike along the path, until she was nearly flown off her bike, the wheel running over a large rock.

There was a pop, and the wheel gave out. Her body stiffened, as the bike fell over in slow motion, the girl jumping off just before it crashed to the ground. 

“Shoot…my mom’s gonna kill me! This is the 3rd bike this year….” She sighed, running her hand over her face and into her messing brown hair. She gazed at the bike, bending over to inspect the rock that popped a whole in the wheel. 

She picked up the debris, initially just assuming it was some sort of random dark rock, or tar. Though on further inspection, she realized something…unreal. The stone was caked with a strange liquid that seemed to be a dark violet shade. She held the stone in the sunlight, surprised to see the strange rock to glitter and sparkle. Maybe some random kid just forgot their art project on the way from home? She guessed. Maybe she should just go home, not that her bike was broken, she would take much longer to get back.  
Suddenly she heard something in the brush, and froze. Maybe just a squirrel? That wasn’t uncommon. But…neither were bears…or wolves…She swallowed hard, still statue still were she stood. 

The bush continued to rustle, and a few moments later, something emerged that Abigail thought she would never see, ever. 

An exhausted Tristana appeared in the teen’s path, rubbing her starry eyes. Her face was caked with sparkly blood, and gashes and cuts littered her exposed skin. One of her big pointed ears had a gash in them, and her attire was torn and tattered. 

Abigail didn’t breathe. She was so shocked. She didn’t dare move, she didn’t want to scare the strange creature she saw. 

Tristana wandered a bit, before she finally seemed to catch site of what she was looking for. She scampered over across the path, and had begun to drag a decent sized log across the dirt road. Abigail peeked out from behind a tree, watching the Star. Curiosity had Abigail eventually follow the yordle as Tristana vanished into the bushes. Abigail took a deep breath as she followed Trist’s footprints, stepping over the brush with ease. She kept quiet as she walked behind Tristana, till the yordle reached a section of the forest that had been cleared. 

Abigail was amazed by what she had saw. A massive meteor had fallen right in the woods, knocking down several flimsy trees and creating a crater in the earth, digging up the grass and dirt. 

She watched Tristana approach the space rock, placing the log underneath it. Abigail watched as the tiny yordle began to push against the log and eventually jump up onto it. It became clear that she was trying to move the space rock. Abigail moved her position to notice someone else was trapped under the rock. 

It was Draven, barely hanging onto consciousness. Tristana was lucky, to not be crushed by the meteor as it hit earth, but Draven had been, and was now stuck. Fortunately, Stars could not be killed by physical damage like that, but it sure wasn’t fun to be banged up and squashed, and the pair couldn’t stay stranded on earth for long, with the crisis in the sky above. She had to push the debris off of him. And he wasn’t really in the position to push it off himself. He was lying on his stomach and the rock was pinned into his back. 

“Jus’ hurry up, rodent.” 

“That’s not really what you want to say to someone trying to save your skin, I’d leave you here forever if there wasn’t pressing matters like the stars burning out.” She snapped  
back. 

Draven rolled his eyes. “Whatever, kid.” He sighed. 

Abigail watched the exchange with awe. Draven was more human like, minus his starlight hair and eyes. Another thing that made him stick out like a sour thumb was his attire. His costume looked regal and extravagant, while Abigail wore shorts to her knee and a plain green tee shirt with a little pocket on the chest area and gray sleeves. She sported white biking sneakers and had a small backpack on her bike. It was filled with stuff like snacks and band aids her mom always made her take. She usually didn’t need said things, but from the looks of things she may actually use them today. 

She took a deep breath. She might as well reveal herself. Even if said…things she was standing before might zap her memory or vaporize her where she stood. She was unsure of the beings mysterious powers, they were for sure not “human”. 

“Urhm….Do you need help?” 

Tristana jumped back, her ears flattened and teeth barred. Her short fur spiked up and stood on end, her eyes aggressive. She appeared almost like a wild cat, acting on instinct. 

Draven looked up, less concerned until he realized the appearance of the human was….unlike people he was familiar with. Maybe because he was so used to seeing everyone where purple and gold sparkling robes, or having blue or purple star littered hair. Or maybe it was because she didn’t look as humans did back on the Runeterra he remembered. She wasn’t wearing any kind of armor…and what were those….short blue pants? It was unlike anything he had seen.

Draven tensed up. What was going on?

Abigail walked forward slowly. “Hey, hey…I know you are scared...but I don’t want to hurt you…I just want to help!” 

Tristana backed away slowly, her tiny pointy teeth still showing. 

“Do you not…speak English?” Abigail asked. 

“Course we speak English…” Tristana barked, calming down slightly.

“Oh well that’s good…but trust me, I mean no harm I’m just a kid…I don’t have any weapons…”

As she spoke, her bike toppled over behind her. 

“What’s that then???” Tristana hissed.

“Oh, just my bike.”

“Bike….?”

“My bike!” Abigail answered, dragging her bike from behind the brush. I rode it here.”

“What a strange form of transport…” Tristana exclaimed. “Piltover must have made even greater advances since we left Runettera…”

“Pilt…over?” Abigail asked, her head tilting slightly.

Draven’s eyes widened. “This kid don’t know what Piltover is??” He exclaimed. 

“There’s no such place as Piltover…you aren’t from here are you?”

“We USED to be.” Tristana said, moving to trying and roll the rock off Draven. 

“Things….musta changed…” Draven replied, grunting as Tristana tried to push the rock off. 

“Here…let me help…” Abigail said as she walked over to aid in getting the rock off.

Tristana’s ears flattened but she let the girl assist her. It wasn’t going to get done any faster if Tristana was alone. 

With a few shoves and a bit of sweat, they eventually pushed the space rock off of Draven. The relieved Star pushed himself off the ground and laughed. “That’s what I’m talking about!!!” Draven smiled. “Thanks for the help kid, but Trist and I gotta get going.” 

Abigail nodded. “Oh but wait…are you sure you don’t need anything before you uh…go? Food, water, some bandages?” 

“Don’t NEED that stuff, though food would be nice…”

“Draven.” 

“Aright aright…..we really do have to get going, we’ve been gone long enough.” He said to the teen girl, as the pair prepared to rocket back into space. 

The duo shot a few feet up into the air before they dropped right back down. 

Abigail blinked. Stunned. 

“WHAT GIVES?” Draven spat, as Tristana flopped onto his back. 

“I don’t…I don’t know…”

“Are you two SURE you don’t need any help?” Abigail asked. 

“100% sure.” Draven spat, pushing Tristana off his back and pushing himself back onto his feet. “We have to try again.” He said wiping a Star blood stain off his dirty cheek.  
Tristana nodded. “Yeah.”

Abigail watched as the pair tried several times over, each getting even less high into the air. 

“This…this is BAD.” Tristana huffed. “We can’t…we can’t even get back up their! This makes everything so much worse…” 

Draven shook his head. “I mean a while ago it took Ez a bit of time to get back up into space when he crash landed.” 

“Yeah but that’s Ez, he likes to explore a bit.” Tristana pointed out. 

“Whatever, we aren’t Ez. We NEED to be up there.” Draven replied. 

Abigial gently tapped Draven’s shoulder. He jumped and screamed. 

“Just me again. Abigail. My names Abigail…but you can just call me Abby.” She answered. 

“Okay, Abby. Why are you still here?” Draven sneered. 

Tristana rolled her eyes. “Draven lay off, she obviously isn’t a threat, and she just wants to help! Besides…this is someone from this world. This is someone we are…making light for. Someone we are protecting.” 

“It’s obviously not the same world.” Draven hissed.

Tristana sighed. “Well…it seems it’s not. She is…different. Her clothes, her transport…Draven have you ever considered, how LONG we have been up there?” 

Draven shrugged. “I dunno. Must have been…..sometime…”

Abby smiled warmly. “Hey uh…if you guys are what I think you are…you are lucky I found you. My family can help you!”

Draven and Tristana turned. “Eh?” 

“My mother told me stories of gods and goddesses that danced in the skies at night, creating the stars and protecting out world. You are Stars, aren’t you?”

Draven and Tristana blinked. “Yeah doesn’t everyone just know that?” 

“Stories of the stars have been passed down for 100s of years. Many consider them myths now, very few still believe it…I always believed…and I was right!”

“People don’t…remember us??” Draven exclaimed.

“Well I do,” Abigail answered. 

Draven and Tristana glanced at each other and huddled together for a few moments. 

“So do we follow this chick?” Draven asked. 

“What other choice do we have? We tried to get back to space but we can’t! With all that’s happening our powers must be weakened. We have no chance to get off this planet at  
this rate.” 

Draven rolled his eyes. “Yeah but…”

“But nothing. This girl KNOWS about us. That means we still have a chance. Maybe we can learn things from her, and rest up. Get back home. They will have to hold up with a few missing Stars for a while…and I don’t want to wander a world I’m not familiar with…and I don’t think you do either!” 

Draven shrugged. “Whatever, we’ll hang with this kid for a bit, but the second we have a chance we get back up to the other Stars.”

“Of course!” Tristana replied. The pair turned back to Abigail and smiled. 

“Abby….was it?” Draven started.

“I heard everything! Follow me~.” 

The pair blinked slowly, but began to follow the girl. 

Abigail lifted her bike and pushed it along. 

“So this bike…how does it work?” Draven asked. 

“Oh this thing? You just sit on it…like this” The girl demonstrated as she spoke. “You put your feet on the pedals, you kinda make a movement like you are running, and you are  
off!” She said as she sped away. The human and yordle Stars followed the girl as she bike a few feet ahead before she got off, wiping the sweat form her brow. The popped wheel wasn't making for an easy or balanced ride. "My wheel has a whole though, so its a bit tricky to ride at the moment. 

“Weird.” Draven replied. 

“I think it’s quite fun.” Abigail spoke up. “I can go farther faster than on foot sometimes.” She explained. 

“Cool!” Tristana replied. 

“You guys…are like time travelers almost. I know your stories date back hundreds of years. Do you know what the internet is?”

“The…what?” 

“Oh man…I can’t wait to show you guys that!” 

Draven rolled his eyes and glanced over to Tristana, who seemed a bit more peppy and excited. Suddenly something occurred to him. 

“Yo uh…how have your night skies been lookin’ kid?” He blurted out. 

“Dark.” 

Draven swallowed. 

“They’ve been cloudy like today. We’ve had some storms come through, crazy stuff, I haven’t seen a clear sky in a week.” 

“Well at least the people in this area are...unaware of what’s going on.” Draven whispered to Tristana.

“What about other places though?” Tristana asked back. “The world is huge, there is no way its cloudy everywhere.”

Draven bit his lip. As long as they weren’t shamed and mocked here for their failure in the sky. 

The trio walked a bit, and Draven watched the sky darken behind the grey clouds. He felt a drip of rainwater splash onto his face. 

Abigail sighed. “Oh come on…well, at least homes not far now!” The three ran out of the woods and onto a brown dirt road. In the distance, they could see a cluster of homes lined up against each other, sidewalks on the side of the road. A suburb. The set up was…strange to the two Stars. 

As they approached the homes, Abigail stopped walking. 

“You guys are…not what people around here are used to seeing. Draven…maybe you could slide as a cosplayer or anime fan or something.” 

“A what?”

Tristana though…you aren’t very…..well you don’t look like any native animals to my town. 

“Animals??” 

“Just…here let me carry you. If anyone asks you’re the custom doll I’ve been working on and uh…well you can’t speak.”

“Excuse me!?” 

“Just…trust me,” Abby said as she lifted Trist of the ground. “Draven could you push my bike for me then?” Draven nodded yes. 

“If you say so…” The yordle said. She crew stiff, acquiring a cutesy smile. Though she felt...slightly sick. Were…yordles…extinct? If Abigail was saying people wouldn’t react to her if she was normal…and had to adopt the appearance of a cutesy toy, could that mean other yordles were gone? 

She shook it off, the breeze gently ruffling her fur and drops of rain trickling down her. 

Draven clung pretty close to Abigail. A few people were outside, mostly kids…who stared. Many ignored him however, mostly teens out for a jog across the street on the opposite sidewalk, and parents talking to other parents. However many people retreated inside, not because of the trio but because of the rain falling heavier and the clouds growing darker. 

“Almost there…” Abigail spoke, as she approached a quaint little home with a well-kept garden and pond in the front yard. There was a sidewalk leading up to the door that was littered with chalk drawings of horses and fantasy creatures. There was a black path near the house as well. A large machine sat in the black path, box like in shape and red in color. It had 4 thick black wheels and windows all around it. 

“What is that thing?” Tristana asked in awe. 

“That’s are car…think like a bike…but bigger, faster, more people can ride in it. It’s a form of transportation.”

“Anyone ride horses anymore?” Draven huffed. “Or use teleportation magic?” 

“Horses yes……….magic? I don’t think so…” Abby answered. 

She walked over to a massive door on the house and opened a keypad on the side of it. She punched in a quick code and it began to slowly and loudly open. Draven jumped in shock, Tristana’s eyes widened. 

“Don’t mind the mess, my mom and I are working on it…its soon time for spring cleaning so this stuff will be cleared out soon.”

Draven walked around the mess. A few cardboard boxes, shoes, plastic toys, boxes with chalk and various art and sports supplies littered the floor. Wedged in the corner was a tall white container of sorts. 

“What’s in that?” Draven asked. 

“Food.”

“Oh mama.” 

“Yeah. Draven you can just….leave the bike in here.” 

Draven let go of the bike, and it toppled over. 

“Ah…right I didn’t think of the bike stand.” Abby said with a sigh.

She placed Tristana on the cluttered floor, lifting the bike and kicking a little metal bar that propped the bike up and prevented it from falling. 

“This…isn’t where I live if you were wondering. This is our garage, slash storage room.” Abigail said making air quotes with her fingers. “Let me show you the rest of my house.”  
She pushed open yet another door, and the duo of Stars curiously followed behind her. 

“Jacob?! Is mom back yet?” She called inside. 

A slightly shorter boy emerged, wearing an over sized hoodie and was holding a video game console controller. “Nah she’s still out, wanna play co-op before she gets back?” He said handing her a controller.

“Actually I have something to show you.” She said stepping inside. “Tristana, Draven? This is my younger brother Jacob.” The pair shyly walked inside. Jacob’s eyes widened. 

“Yo….what the shit…”

“JACOB!” 

“What? Moms not home yet!” 

“Do you know who these two are?” Abigail scolded him.  
“No…looks like some cosplayer you’re picked off the street and an overgrown fancy rat.”

“These two are Stars. Like in the stories mom used to tell us!” 

“Okay.” Jacob said unimpressed. 

“They are REAL! I knew the stories were real…” She said. 

“You know mom was just trying to entertain us.” 

“Then explain these two! Look really close.”

“I’m going back to my games. Have fun with your new friends till mom gets home and freaks out cuz you invited strangers to our house.” 

Abigail rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen. “Whatever, squirt.” She sighed as she walked over to the counter. 

“I ate all the cheesy chips by the way.” He said as he un-paused his game on the television. 

“Whatever those are gross anyways.” 

Draven and Tristana stared in awe at the massive screen, watching the boy play a first person shooter style of game. 

“What is this…device?” Tristana asked, her eyes wide. 

“Uh….tv?” Jacob asked. “Where did you find these guys, under a rock?”

Abigail bit her lip. “That’s…actually not wrong.” She said opening the fridge of the kitchen and grabbed some food to reheat. 

“T…V…” Draven repeated. “How…interesting.”

“Are you controlling what is occurring on this device?” Tristana asked. 

“Yeah, this is a video game, but sometimes you watch TV shows or movies too, those are prerecorded. Hey sis why am I telling these guys this?” 

“Because they came from a time period where stuff like this didn’t exist. They’ve been in space protecting us for 100s of years.”

“Whatever you say.” Jacob replied, taking a sip from a can of soda that was next to him.

Draven was silent for a moment, sitting on the cushioned couch. “You don’t seem…surprised?” 

“I’ve become pretty hard to impress,” Jacob answered, not looking away from the screen. 

Tristana was curious, as she shimmied over to the drink the human boy had taken a sip from. “What is this….containers contents?” 

“Soda.” Jacob answered. 

“Huh.” Tristana grabbed the can, nearly tipping it over as she inspected every inch of it. 

“Don’t spill that on the floor my mom will kill me if she finds out I was drinking in the living room again.” 

“Your mother sounds like a Noxian parent,” Tristana commented, gnawing on the top of the soda can. 

“Shut up.” Draven spat. 

Jacob rolled his eyes, already irritated by the pairs bickering and the sound of Tristana gnawing on his soda can. Eventually the yordle Star managed to find out how it worked,  
tilting her head back and gulping down its contents. 

“It’s very-gulp-….different. It tastes quite strong and I can feel it burn in my nose…is this POSION!?!?!” 

“Wow, fur ball really has never had soda, huh. Don’t sweat it would I have been drinking it if it was poison?” 

“I guess not…” Tristana said, rubbing her throat. 

“She’d probably like milk.” Abigail said, sitting down a glass near the yordle Star. 

“I know what milk is, I drank it all the time back in the day!” Tristana was relieved to have something familiar to her palate. It was a little different in flavor, but it wasn’t bad. 

“Yeah…I guess I wouldn’t have thought food today would be different than in your time.” Abby replied. “But I hope you can enjoy some snacks. We have like pretzels, chips, popcorn, mostly snack and junk food. I also have pop tarts. We will have to wait for mom to get home to make us real dinner.”

“I hope she just brings back take out or something.” Jacob grunted. 

Abigail grabbed a handful of cheddar popcorn and popped it into her mouth. “Shut it, mom works hard to make us good and healthy food!” 

“I’d rather have a cheeseburger and fries.” He answered. 

Draven and Trist watched the siblings argue in awe. Well, at least one thing hadn’t changed. Draven suddenly missed Darius, an empty feeling grew in the pit of his stomach. The last time he saw Darius he had turned him away and freaked out at him. Even worse, the last person he saw in the stars besides Tristana he had shoved away and yelled at. Sona. His lip quivered. He knew Sona to be a forgiving lass, but he was kind of an asshole. Maybe she missed him, maybe she was glad he got smacked down onto earth. He let out a sigh, staring at the strange food that was presented before him. Tristana seemed content with the glass of milk the modern teen had offered him, so he figured the food was safe.  
He grabbed some of the chips, a very thin food. They were dusted in some kind of…flavored powder. He accidentally snapped it in half.

Draven shrugged, popping the two halves onto his tongue. It was…a unique flavor. To Draven it was a tad spicy.  
“What is this….taste?” He asked.

“Barbecue.” 

Draven shrugged as he shoved another handful into his mouth. 

“What are you used to eating?” Abigail asked curiously. 

“Well in the “old Runeterra” or in space?” 

“Was this world once called Runeterra?” She asked. 

“Yeah…anyways. Back then we ate a lot of meat, vegetables, fruits, dishes made outta that stuff. Sometimes if you were rich…like I was, you could get delectable and expensive feasts and meals, plus delicious desserts.”

“So not too different. I would imagine you don’t have some things we have now though, like marshmallow cereal or pretzel crackers.” 

“You are speakin’ a different language, kid.” Draven said, stuffing more modern food down his throat. It wasn’t particularly amazing but he seemed to just keep unknowingly down more food. 

“You ever have a toaster pastry?” Abigail asked, holding a gray packaged item. 

“What’s a…toaster?” Tristana asked. 

Abigail peeled off the packaging, revealing a flat, frosted pastry. 

“Morgana didn’t have those in her bakery.” Draven said, scrunching up his nose. 

“Pfff, bakery. This guy is high class isn’t he?” Jacob said. 

“They are just very very very old school.” Abigail answered. “They probably never seen a toaster pastry before, or tasted one.”

“They aren’t that great.”

“They are good when we are rushing to school!” Abigail split it in half and offered a piece to Draven and Tristana. The pair took them politely. Draven shoved his piece down his throat, and Tristana nibbled on hers like a starving hamster. 

The two both thought the pastry was dry. Even with the fruit filling and glazed frosting, it was still quite bland. Maybe it was because the pair was used to rich and decadent desserts.

“It…..tastes good!” Tristana said, wanting to be polite. 

“It takes like Darius’ sweat rag. Don’t ask how I know what that tastes like.” 

“DRAVEN!” Tristana barked. 

“Ehe…don’t worry, they’ll like 3 dollars for a box of 15, and they aren’t high quality or fancy or anything like that.”

“Dollars…” Tristana muttered

“Ah…that’s the currency we use.” 

“You don’t use gold?” Draven asked. 

“Well…gold has worth. Gold jewelry is super expensive sometimes. It’s just not what we use to exchange goods anymore. We either use cash or if you’re an adult…you have a credit card.” 

“Don’t tell them about the magic plastic money card, they have a lot to learn before that.” Jacob sneered.

“Isn’t this neat though? Talking to people from a different time period! There is so much we can learn from each other…” Abigail said. 

Draven hiccupped. “Er…sure.”

Tristana glared. “It is most helpful that you have taken us in Abby. Without guidance if we are stuck here, we might not have made it back home.”

Draven rolled his eyes. “Yeah…thanks I guess.”

“You’re most welcome! I’m just…so excited that…knowing that the stories mom told were true.”

“Of course we are real! We’ve just been up in space so long…we’ve forgotten how long it’s been.” Draven said. 

“Crazy….” Abby said, pulling out a device and tapping its screen. 

“What’s THAT?” Tristana asked, taking another sip of milk. 

“This? Aha you guys will love this. It’s my cell phone! I can text friends which is uh…kind of like sending a letter or paper message but like, its instant. You can call, which is like talking to a person far away but you don’t have to leave your spot! You can use the internet, which I’ll show you then, take pictures…”

She snapped a photo of the two Stars, their eyes huge and dirty faces stunned. 

“This is all too much. Like so much has changed…” Draven said. 

“Yordles are gone…” Tristana sighed. 

“What about like…dragons…monsters….demons, mages, spirits, ghosts! Do they…still exist?” Draven asked. 

“Only in stories and movies.” Abigail said. “They are simply myths, tales, and fiction.” 

“That’s…so crazy. No one knows what…what we are anymore.” Draven was shaking. He wasn’t too happy of that. 

“Uh..hello Draven~ I haven’t forgotten you guys…my mom still believes in you.” Abigail said. 

“Mom is gonna think you are crazy. Do you really think she believed the stories that she told us as kids?” 

“Well, if she didn’t then…she will now.” 

Draven and Tristana continued to munch on the snacks, Tristana moving back onto the couch, gazing up at Abigail’s phone, amazed by everything she could do with it. It played music, they could watch videos, and even play games, all which were quite a shock to the yordle. 

“So like….this device…you can contact friends and family as well as it is a source for entertainment? Wow…I bet anyone from Piltover would be drooling over a device like this!” 

“I guess so.” Draven muttered. He was fidgeting with a video game controller, mashing random buttons, trying to control his character.

“No no, dude, the joystick moves the character.” 

“The what? I don’t get it. Staring at this “screen” is hurting my eyes how do you stare at this all day?” Draven hissed. 

“I get used to it.” Jacob sighed. 

The four sat and chatted for a bit, Draven and Tristana explaining the world when they lived on it, and Abigail and Jacob explaining how the world worked now. Technology had made many advances, lots of things had changed….Noxus, Demacia, and other factions were gone. Names of locations had changed. The story of the Stars was told in schools as a “mythology”. 

It was so odd. What had happened when the Stars went to space that everything was now so different? What had happened to yordles, monsters, and dragons? Had they been slain as some of the strongest of their kind were sent to the skies? Had war, famine, or a plague wracked the world below? Could it have been THOUSANDS of years since the stars had took to the skies? Draven and Tristana didn’t know…but it worried them greatly. 

Abigail sighed as her phone buzzed. 

“My mom is almost home.” She sounded panicked. 

“Better hide your freak friends.” Jacob said.

“Help me, pea for brains!” She hissed at her brother. She picked up Tristana, who had a handful of popcorn in her mouth that spilled all over the floor. 

“Wait…I thought your mom would know of us?” She asked. 

“I mean…maybe…well…the more I thought about it I realized maybe she would…not be as happy with this as I thought…she doesn’t like me inviting over strangers without her permission.”

“Just tell her we are, basically gods.” 

“YOU BOTH HAVE WEAPONS…” 

“Oh yeah…” Draven said glancing to the dual axes on his back. “Kinda dinged up but they fix themselves over a few days.” 

“You can stay in the garage…my mom doesn’t dare come through there it’s too messy, she just uses the front door. I can work out a better place for you to stay after she goes to bed.” 

The three moved to the garage while Jacob cleaned up the living room of the spilled food and empty bowls. Abigail yanked the door open, and let out a startled scream. Her mother stood, her hair drenched with rain, and clothes sticking to her body. She was surprised to hear her daughter scream, not realizing the stiff yordle in her child’s arms.” 

“Really dear, I look that scary with my hair wet. Abby you just hurt my feelings…oh….”

“Hi Abby’s mom!” Draven waved awkwardly from behind. 

“Hi Abby’s mom.” Tristana mimicked, a wide forced grin on her face. 

“Mom….I can explain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHA THIS WAS SOOO FUN TO WRITE!  
> So basically this just goes to show how the Stars lost track of time and how long they have actually been up there in space.  
> It was quite a treat writing Draven and Tristana in this setting, the pair coming from the fantasy and medieval like world of Runeterra returning to find much has changed to their world.


	7. Fading Light Fading Hope

 

“M-mom….I can explain…” Abigail said, gripping Tristana tighter.

“Explain what?” Her mother said dropping her bags to the ground. “Oh my goodness….” She seemed mesmerized by the yordle.

“Mom…remember how you told us those stories as a kid? Well I don’t think they are stories…I think they are **_real_** …” Abigail said, nearly breathless.

Abigail’s mother’s face looked a bit stern initially, but softened as she chuckled. “Dear…of course those stories were real…”

Abigail’s jaw dropped. “How did…why did…wha?” She was nearly speechless. It all had hit her then. The Stars were not a story, but a reality. Her mom hadn’t been trying to entertain her with the tale she had told her as a kid, she was telling her of her world’s history that had seemed to have been long forgotten.

Abigail’s mother smiled, petting Tristana’s ears, the yordle tensing up. “I thought I would never get to see a yordle again…” She said, her eyes watering.

“So…you aren’t mad?” Abigail said, nearly sighing with relief.

“Of course not.”

“Wait, what’s goin on?” Draven said in surprise.

Abigail’s mother looked Draven up and down. “So, the stories are true, Draven WAS a real Noxian.” She exclaimed.

Draven cracked a wide grin, and Tristana rolled her eyes. 

“Uh, ma’am, how would you know that?” Tristana asked. “Draven isn’t THAT memorable.” She was sure to say very loud and clear so the prideful Noxian Star could hear.

Abigail’s mother chuckled. “Well, this place USED to be Noxus, after all!”

Draven’s grin widened even more, and Tristana made a gagging noise.

“Is THAT why you were being so weird about me?” Tristana asked Abigail.

Abigail bit her lip. “Well, kinda….this area isn’t really yordle populated…and yordles that DO come here usually don’t get treated nicely by some people. But not everyone here is like that anymore! For the most part…”

Draven was pacing around in circles. “Noxus…good ol Noxus…home!” He said with a grin, a tear coming to his eyes. “It’s so damn different though!”

Tristana herself wasn’t so impressed. “So are you guys Noxian then?”

Abigail shook her head. “A lot of the old factions of your time have sort of…disbanded. Names have been changed, people have gotten over their differences. We learned in school about the old conflicts our ancestors had and learned from them, to not let the old rivalries return. Sure I probably have some Noxian ancestors but would I call myself Noxian? Not really…”

Abigail’s mother rushed them inside. “Come on come on, it’s cold out here, and I need to put on dry clothes and fix dinner.” She huffed, as the group stepped back inside.

Draven and Tristana exchanged glances and shrugged. Abby’s mother went upstairs to change as Abby herself went to set the table.

Tristana hopped onto a chair and rested her chin on the table. “It’s so weird…I keep thinking about how time has passed while we have been gone….”

Draven sat down next to her, and rested his legs on the table. “It’s not like we have much perception of time up in space, day and night blend together and we are always busy.”

Tristana sighed. “I suppose you’re right….” She squinted at his display of rudeness but cracked a smile when the bold Abigail herself shoved Draven’s legs off the table. Draven opened his mouth to protest but huffed and crossed his arms.

Abigail finished setting the table and placed her hands on her hips. “I’ve heard time passes faster in space too or something like that, I learned it in science class!” She exclaimed.

Draven shrugged. “Well we get it, us Stars have been gone for a long time. Granted some of us have happened to crash land back on earth…but usually it’s in the woods or something so we don’t notice anything different.”

Tristana chimed in her eyes wide. “Also we try to make it back to space as soon as we can to return to our duties….if our power wasn’t as weak as it was now we would have been home by now.”

Draven rolled his eyes. “Yeah but we got hit by a damn meteor.” He hissed.

Abigail bit her lip. “Yeah….that did happen…” She looked at the pair with concern, if it was abnormal for these “Stars” to stay stuck on earth, something must be amiss. “So what IS going on up in the sky that’s such a huge problem.”

Draven and Tristana exchanged glances. “There’s no problem!” they said in unison, forced grins on their faces.

“I’m not stupid, I can tell when someone’s lying to me.”

“Wow, kids have gotten smart these days,” Draven replied with a huff.

“We are nervous to say exactly, we don’t want to scare anyone…”

“TRIST DON’T SAY THAT!”

“Well if she’s a lie detector than we must be somewhat honest!” the yordle replied.

Draven ran his hands over his face, mumbling to himself. “We Stars can handle it, we’re practically gods, this worlds super heroes! It’s all gonna work out in the end…” he claimed out loud.

“I hope you are right Draven,” Tristana said as she fidgeted in her chair.

“When have I been wrong kid?” Draven replied to the yordle.

Tristana was silent, but gave him a skeptical look. Draven looked away whistling.

Abigail sighed. Only time would tell how it would all work out, and she just wanted to relax.

Eventually her mother came down, in dry clothes and neatly brushed hair. She walked right over to the stove and pulled a pot out of the drawer. “So how was today?” She asked.

“It was fine, school was nice, nothing too crazy happened…well until after school, when I went for a bike ride and I found these two…” Abby said as she gestured to her new friends.

“I played video games.” Jacob said, his voice monotone.

The mother sighed as she pulled out a box of pasta and began to pour water into the large pot. “Sounds like you both had an interesting day.” She smiled, then gesturing her attention to Draven and Tristana as if they were also part of the family. “How was yours, great Stars?”

Draven grinned. “Thought you’d never ask! It was AWFUL. Got struck out of the sky and now we can’t get back!”

Tristana nodded. “Which is bad…not so great stuff is happening and we need to get back up to space to help!”

“What is it that is happening?” Abby’s mother asked.

“Draven says it’s nothing to worry about!” The male Star said.

“We aren’t sure….and we don’t mean to alarm you but the light of the Stars fading. That of the Stars whom we are and the artificial stars that we create to lighten the night sky!  Without the light of the night, people will have trouble seeing in the dark!” Tristana explained.

“This sounds familiar…” Abigail replied. “Much like the story of the stars vanishing in the first place! And the sun and the moon burnt out…that’s why you guys needed to become Stars yourselves!”

“Yeah, it was a hard decision, but we were the ones tasked with it for the rest of eternity. We had no issue for the longest time but something has happened that has begun to make things up in the sky change…” Tristana continued. “It could be anything, an old treat or a new threat…or something in between!”

Abigail’s mother brought over a salad and placed it in the middle of the table. “Well if you want to consider the old legend, a strange rock was found that had come from space, riddled with a strange dark power that caused fear and war and sickness and all things bad,” explained. “Could it be something like that?”

The starlit duo exchanged a glance. “Maybe,” Draven replied, “we did…..get here in the first place because of a giant space rock.”

“You’re right Draven! We should go back to where we fell and examine the rock for any kind of magic power!” Tristana exclaimed.

The two were about to jump up, when a sudden crack of lighting lit up the sky, and rain began to pour from the clouds.

Abigail’s mother smiled. “Maybe its best you wait out the rain and get some rest. You probably both had a crazy day. Don’t worry, we will make sure to do anything to help you both.”

Abigail nodded. “Mom’s right, it’s too late and rainy to go back now…hopefully the rain just doesn’t wash the rock away or something.”

Draven narrowed his eyes. “It was a pretty damn big rock if I was bein’ squashed by it! It shouldn’t have moved.”

Trist nodded. “Then we really shouldn’t worry, let’s just relax!”

The two talked with the family for hours over dinner, until it was time for the kids to get to bed. Abigail’s mother let the two stay in the guest room, she refused to have them sleep in the garage.

The two Stars were surprisingly tired, even more so than Tristana had felt when she was still back up in space.

“What’s going on...” Tristana said as she pulled more and more covers over her as the two crawled into bed. “Why do I feel so cold?”

“Maybe the longer us Stars stay on earth the more of our humanity we gain back. Urgh I had forgotten what it felt like to be this full…too much spaghetti…” Draven replied as he rolled over to his side.

“Shouldn’t we be worried about that?” She replied. “What if we lose our powers the longer we are gone? What if we can never go back?”

“What’s so bad about that?” Draven huffed.

“You really can be so stupid…” She sighed. “Don’t you remember our promise? That we would give our lives to the people, to Runeterra, in turn that our world not be destroyed by darkness…If we don’t go back, we could lose Runterra for good and…we wouldn’t exist anymore.”

“Psh, there are plenty of Stars still up there, I’m sure they can handle it.”

“What’s with this sudden attitude? What if they fall too? What if they get too weak? We need to be in this together Draven!” She exclaimed.

Draven scoffed. “Whatever, it’s not like they miss ME or anything.”

“Draven this isn’t about just you, no matter how often you think it is. Besides I’m sure your brother misses you to death! And what about Sona? And you’re other friends! And my friends!”

“Keep it down RAT you do remember were in someone else’s house.” Draven hissed.

Tristana’s eyes were watering. She hadn’t remembered the last time she had felt his emotional. Maybe she was gaining her humanity back. Through her blurred vision, she noticed Draven’s once vibrant starlight hair was beginning to fade. Maybe they were losing their powers, maybe everyone was! She had no way of knowing, no communication to those still back at “home”.

But wasn’t where they were now home? Being Noxus in the past this place was more of a home to Draven, but it was still Runeterra at some point. She bit the bottom of her lip.

“Fine. Be negative and childish. We could still be outside in the rain and you’d be stuck under a space rock for the rest of eternity” The yordle shivered again, slipping out of the bed and pulling off one of the blankets as she dragged if over to the window. She cried softly as she gazed out the window. The dulling glow of her starlit hair reflected against the window. She peered out, watching the rain shower the driveway.

Her ears twitched as she heard the sound of someone entering the room. It was Abby.

“Are you two okay in here? I thought I heard something.” She asked.

Draven was silent, either asleep or pretending to be. She noticed the faint light of Tristana’s glow near the window.

She walked over to the distraught yordle. “Are you okay?”

Tristana sniffed. “I…guess so.” She said with a shrug, her eyes still glued to the world outside.

“You must miss home.”

“Yes…but I don’t think it’s the location I miss, because where I am now was once home too. I think I miss the people…” Tristana sighed.

“What about Draven? Isn’t he your friend?”

“I guess he’s the closest thing to a friend I have currently being stuck here.” She rested her chin over her folded arms on the edge of the windowsill. “He’s…tolerable in small doses. He has way too big of an ego in my opinion and a temper that rivals the likes of a rabid poro.” The yordle scratched behind her ear gently. “He’s sorta mean sometimes too…but that’s all been recently…I think he’s scared.”

The yordle felt something weird fall down her back, and when she gazed at the floor she saw glowing particles dusting the floor. “Oh my STARS my stars are coming off!” The yordle tried to grab the tiny particles, the tiny stars sticking to her fingers. To her dismay, they grew dimmer and dimmer. She sighed as she returned her focus to outside once more. “This is happening too fast…we’re getting weak. We will never get home…”

Abigail offered a gentle hand, placing it on the yordles shoulder. “Hey….I want to try and help you. My mom knows…’people’ she says, can possibly help you get where you need to be.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Tristana let out a sigh. “Well if that’s the case, I should probably try and sleep…it’s something I haven’t done a lot of lately, but my body is telling me I should.

Abigail grinned. “Okay. You want me to carry back to bed?”

“S-sure…” Tristana replied, a bit embarrassed, as the young girl lifted the tiny yordle into her arms.

Abigail carried her to the bed, gently placing her next to Draven, who grunted softly.

“Goodnight Stars,” she said as she bowed slightly, smiling as Tristana curled up closer to Draven.

The yordle was cold. That was her excuse.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew it's been a few months since I last posted! For awhile Space Rift was on the back burner since I was unsure of where to go with the story...but finally I have some progress! Hopefully the story will be back on a more routine update schedule!! Sorry for such the long wait and thanks to all who stayed loyal to my story!!


End file.
